Guide to Resources relating to MEI's Climate Week Events

Introduction

This subject guide was compiled in support of MEI's Climate Week 2021: Confronting Climate Crisis in the MENA Region events.

The goal of this guide is to provide those interested in the Climate Week topics with a starting point or checklist of resources — whether they be seasoned researchers or just beginning to explore the topic. The resources listed below include primary and secondary sources:  documents and databases, publications of intergovernmental organizations, non-profit organizations, and national government departments and ministries.
Researchers will find here primary resource materials that are openly available online as well as search tips for library catalogs. Lists of some relevant subscription databases and materials held at the Oman Library at MEI are also provided.

Databases & International Resources

This section aims to guide researchers in locating primary and some secondary resources relating to various aspects of climate and its effects on the people of the MENA region; it provides a broad introduction to catalogs, databases, and other websites that will help those interested in a wide variety of climate-related topics.
This section also seeks to enable researchers to see the “big picture” — the context within which narrower topics lie. Intergovernmental resources featured in the last part of this section parallel the nationally-focused resources highlighted in the subsequent sections and provide a regional or global perspective on those topics.

MEI Projects, Publication, & Panel Discussions

Climate Change, Environment and Human Security Program: Find topical articles, events, blog posts, and more on this Program's landing page. Issues include land, water, food, energy, climate, and human security, environmental health, and sustainability.
MEI Climate Week 2021: Confronting Climate Crisis in the MENA Region: Zoom webinar series, dated April 19-23, 2021, includes the full list of Climate Week events.

Resource Guides by Other Institutions

Science & Environment: A LibGuide (Library Guide or Library Resource Guide) by Occidental College which highlights Middle East, Islamic, and Arabic resources on a number of topics. The Science & Environment guide is specifically relevant. The link to the Iraqi Wetlands Heritage Project is listed as being "dead," however information may be found about the Ahwar of Southern Iraq via UNESCO.

Dag Hammarskjöld Library of the United Nations provides research guides on a variety of topics. Of particular relevance are the  Climate Change--A Global Issue, Food Security and Nutrition--A Global Issue, and UN Documentation: Environment research guides.

The UN Library & Archives, Geneva, also several Research Guides under the Environment heading: Climate Change; Conference Primer: Environment; and Sustainable Development Goals. The Sustainable Development heading has those same Research Guides plus an additional one, Conference Primer: Sustainable Development Goals.

Another useful one is the Guide to OA Content in Global Search, for the UN Geneva Library and Archives' collection.

Environmental Science Resource Guide: Produced by Columbia College provides useful resources for finding information with a local (U.S.) and global scope.

Iran Social Science Data Portal: Lists Iran's ministries, including background information and related institutions, complete with links to current websites. The Socio-economic data page along with the Data by individual researchers, and more may be found on the left-hand menu.
Launched in 2011, the portal provides easy access to social science data on Iran, and "aims to provide a service to journalists, academics, policymakers, and others interested in analyzing political and socioeconomic developments in contemporary Iran."

Library of Congress in Washington, DC: Provides several Research Guides under the categories of Energy, Environment & Natural Resources, and Environmental Studies, which may be useful. The layout for these guides places the menus with tabs pertaining to the guide being viewed on the left side of the page. Some relevant guides featured here include a combination of locally (U.S.)- and globally-focused resources and may include:
Oil and Gas Industry: A Research Guide
Natural Disasters: A Resource Guide
Webcasts from the Science, Technology & Business Division
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A Resource Guide.

Databases & Non-Governmental Organizations

Databases in general are a virtual gold mine for current as well as historical research. The journals and other documents, such as newspapers, that are indexed will in many cases provide the full text. NGO's and other regional organizations provide more specific access to publications relevant to their projects. Often their websites will provide direct access to documents including reports and conference summaries.

AgriProfiles: This search portal of experts and organizations in agriculture is provided by and part of the Global Forum on Agricultural Research (GFAR) database. GFAR's themes include climate change, capacity building, regional cooperation, sustainability, investment, and more. Search GFAR's documents, and datasets, which may be found under the People and resources tab.

Arab Forum for Environment and Development (AFED): This organization is based in Lebanon and seeks "to advance prudent environmental policies and action in the Arab countries based on science and awareness." View their publications and reports. Files are downloadable as PDFs. Reports from all previous conferences dating back to the first conference in 2008, are available under the Annual Conferences tab.

Climate Data Online (CDO): This database provides free access to NOAA's National Climatic Data Center's archive of global historical weather and climate data. Global Historical Climate Network datasets include observations from the World Meteorological Organization, and others.
Use the Data Tools: Find a Station map to pinpoint location data from Morocco to Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia to Tajikistan. NOAA gives users a detailed history of weather data collected over decades. Reveal a pop-up by clicking on a desired station, selecting "Full details," users are given station history, all available data including location information, reports, and documents.

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): This free online database provides one platform to search hundreds of journals at the same time. Find journals on the topic of climate, or search for articles with that keyword.

EBSCO OpenDissertations is an OA database with content from 1952 to present day. It does not display properly on FireFox. Here is one example search for climate AND (Middle East OR Persian Gulf OR North Africa).

EcoPeace Middle East: Founded in 1994, this project-oriented NGO brings together Jordanian, Palestinian, and Israeli environmentalists to advance sustainable regional development and promote the conditions that are conducive to peace. Access their many publications, which are downloadable as PDFs and organized by topic.

Manshūrāt Qānūneya (MQ): Created by the American University in Cairo, it is "the first open-access database of its kind to offer a wide variety of primary legal materials in Arabic focused on the Egyptian Legal System." Search for terms in Arabic to read and download documents relating to environmental and climate issues.

The Oman Library now provides its members with access to two ProQuest databases:

Middle East & Africa Database: includes full-text academic journals published in the MENA region on a variety of topics, including hard and social sciences.

Middle East & African Newsstream: offers full-text access to newspapers, news wires, websites, and blogs from regional publishers. Also includes region-specific content from BBC Monitoring and New York Times.

Basic or advanced searches return a variety of current and historical journal articles, news stories, dissertations, and more. Refine results based on criteria including publisher, publication type. Contact the librarian with any questions!

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Intergovernmental Organizations

Central Treaty Organization (CENTO)

CENTO replaced the Baghdad Pact Organization in 1959 and was dissolved in 1979 following Iran's revolution and subsequent withdrawal. CENTO's Public Relations Division released a number of publications including reports and technical papers. The Economic Division prepared and supported meetings of the Economic Committee and administered the technical cooperation program along with the Multilateral Technical Cooperation Fund, and served as liaison for technical exchanges between member states, developed statistical materials, and worked with the Persian Agricultural Machinery and Soil Conservation Training Center.

More information about CENTO may be found in the Encyclopaedia Iranica. Its publications may be found via WorldCat.

Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS)

Established in 1994 and headquartered in Pakistan, COMSATS seeks to attain socio-economic development through scientific and technological cooperation. Environmentally sustainable development is one of the goals set forth in its statutes. The Programmes tab lays out the organization's various activities, including the Centre for Climate and Sustainability., while the Publications tab provides Annual Reports dating back to 2009, Statutes, Newsletters, and other publications.

European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

EBRD's projects span the globe, search for projects by keyword, or find projects based on location by country, organized by region — Central Asia, Southern and Eastern Mediterranean, Turkey, South-eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, Cyprus (and Greece), etc.

The What We Do tab shows the Key Themes and Topics, which include EBRD Green (i.e. Green Finance) and Food Security, among others. View the list of key sectors, here. The same tab also provides economics data.

European Union (EU)

View the EU's regional policies page, which include climate- and environmentally focused policies, toward the MENA region as well as Central Asia and the Black Sea region.

EU Open Data Portal:  The Open Data Portal allows users to search and access open data published by EU institutions and bodies. Users may also browse datasets by subject or by data type, and refine search results on the right-side menu by theme, publisher, keyword, and other metadata. The Portal provides access to geographic, geopolitical and financial data, statistics, legal acts, crime, and more. Similarly, the EuroStat statistics database covers eastern European countries including Turkey and Cyprus.

EUR-Lex (EU Law): Includes a large number of MENA-relevant documents, including legal acts, international agreements, parliamentary decisions, case law, preparatory documents, and more. This search for environment and Persian returned 289 search results on topics including the effects of the Iran-Iraq War; while this search for environment and "Middle East" returned more than 3,000 results dating from 1971 to 2021.

Search the EU's legal documents by keyword or phrase using the Quick Search bar at the top, or choose Advanced Search, to specify specific criteria. Choose collections of EU law and case law, or national law and case law, among other categories such as author, date, or by publication information — including documents published in the Official Journal.
In addition to legal documents, users will find on this website the Official Journal (OJ) of the European Union — "the main source of EUR-Lex content. It is published daily (from Monday to Friday regularly, on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only in urgent cases) in the official EU languages​." Search the OJ by date, Series (Information and Notices, or Legislation), Class (Supplement A or I), or number. All issues available from the first, dated December 30, 1952, to the most current (2021).

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

Established in 1981, its members are Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. More information is available in Arabic than the English version of the website.
Find information about the GCC Common Market, financial markets, Laws and Regulations and international agreements (in Arabic), the digital library provides access to reports and other GCC publications.

International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The IMF consists of 190 member countries and "promotes international financial stability and monetary cooperation. It also facilitates international trade, promotes employment and sustainable economic growth, and helps to reduce global poverty."

Publications page lists documents and reports including the World Economic Outlook reports and Regional Economic Outlook: Middle East and Central Asia, which includes North African countries.
The World Economic Outlook Database includes selected macroeconomic data from 1980 to present, taken from the statistical appendix of the World Economic Outlook report, which is published twice annually. Each WEO report receives a corresponding database, and a cumulative database does not seem to exist. It presents analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level as well as in major country groups and in many individual countries. The database includes GDP, trade, investment, exports and imports, government finance, energy, food price indexes and quotes, agricultural indexes, and more.

More IMF Data resources are available under the Data tab. Capacity Development works to help countries attain sustainable development goals. As of January 1, 2020, all documents and books in the IMF eLibrary are Open Access, and creating a personal account is free.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

Global in scope, the OECD website provides a wealth of environment, development, and climate-related information and statistics which may be browsed by country or topic, including agriculture and fisheries; development — focus on sustainable development and green transition; environment; green growth and sustainable development; regional, rural, and urban development; and other topics with potential relevance to climate and environmental issues.

Search OECD Data, Statistical Resources, and the iLibrary of Publications.
OECD Data is Open Access, browsable and searchable by keyword and topic. Query the Statistical Database by theme, each theme has nested categories and subcategories. Users can search for keywords within the themes by typing in the "Find in Theme" bar; search tips are provided.
The Statistical Resources provides a glossary of terms, a link to the OECD Database (discussed above), and other references, including Statistical manuals and guidelines by topic.

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

Created in Baghdad in 1960, OPEC's "objective is to co-ordinate and unify petroleum policies among Member Countries..." The five founding members were Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Qatar joined in 1961, followed by Indonesia (1962), Libya (1962), the United Arab Emirates (1967), Algeria (1969), Nigeria (1971), Ecuador (1973), Gabon (1975), Angola (2007), Equatorial Guinea (2017) and Congo (2018).

The Publications tab provides access to various titles including current issues of the Monthly Oil Market Report and its archive, dating back to 2001 — this is where users interested in historical production data will want to turn; OPEC Bulletin and its archive also dating back to 2001; World Oil Outlook, and its archive dating to 2007; and the Annual Statistical Bulletin with its archive dating to 1999.

Data/Graphs tab provides information on prices, taxes, oil reserves, upstream investment, downstream capacity, and market indicators.

United Nations (UN)

UNdata: Statistical resources of the UN System.

Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA): Dozens of climate and environmental publications covering the Arab region, including sustainable development, water, and more. Statistical Abstract of the ESCWA Region, which has been published annually since 1974 with the Arabic title, adopted its English title in 1983, and is available in print from several libraries worldwide.

UN Environment Programme (UNEP) uses the Environmental Data Explorer as its online database, holding "more than 500 different variables, as national, subregional, regional and global statistics or as geospatial data sets (maps), covering themes like Freshwater, Population, Forests, Emissions, Climate, Disasters, Health and GDP."

UN Global Issues page lists topics with basic information, including climate change, food, water, and more.

Refworld: Reports and documents relating to climate and more. Search by keyword and/or country. Also has advanced search options. View search tips, here.

International Organization for Migration (IOM): Researchers interested in the effects of climate change on migration will find some potentially relevant publications by performing a simple search for climate on the IOM website.
The Migration Data Portal examines various themes, including environmental migration.

World Meteorological Organization: Originally the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), WMO became the specialized agency of the UN for weather and climate in 1950. Users will find their library, resources and publications, and project information via the WMO website. Their programs include capacity development, flood management, agricultural meteorology, global climate observing, data processing, and more.
Projects include Afghanistan early warning systems, agricultural climate resilience (for food security),

For more options, view the full list of UN Databases.

UN Libraries

UN Library & Archives at Geneva: Search or browse UN documents dating from its founding in 1946 to present. The scope of the archives covers four broad areas: the Secretaries-General, Secretariat Departments, Peacekeeping Missions, and Predecessor Organizations. Global Search allows users to search and browse thousands of UN documents and publications, however not all content is open access. See their resource guide to Global Search for tips.
A simple search for climate returns 12,704 results and environmental returns more than 10,000.
Filter results or perform an advanced search, to retrieve more focused results.

Digital Library: Search materials published by the different UN bodies, including Documents and Publications such as reports, statistics, and more.

iLibrary: Global search and document reader for digital content created by the United Nations. Books and documents in the iLibrary cover a variety of topics, including water competition in agriculture. To view the documents within the iLibrary, click on the desired search result. If it is openly available, a "Reader" button will appear to the right of the metadata within the item record. Clicking that button will open the document.

Once inside  the document reader, it may be read or browsed naturally, or the document can be searched for a desired term by using the search bar within the reader.

Dag Hammarskjöld Library: Users may choose to search the library for books and more in the DAG Discovery — digital resources available online, or UN documents and publications — held in the library or downloadable online.

World Bank

The World Bank was established in 1947 and has funded thousands of programs since then. Project information and historical documents are accessible through their website, and are searchable by country, sector, or theme.

Browse the Development Topics, found under the What We Do tab. The Understanding Poverty tab provides links to data and research/publications.
By going to the Who We Are tab, Accountability section, then clicking on Access to Information, researchers will find the World Bank's Archives, Documents and Reports — including board and project documents and research, among others.

All Research and Publications are available, searchable, and downloadable via the Open Knowledge Repository (OKR), by looking under the Knowledge section of the What We Do tab.

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Climate & Environment

MEI Publications

Climate Challenges in the Middle East: Rethinking environmental cooperation: Publication dated May 3, 2016.
Finding Common Ground: Fostering environmental cooperation in the Persian Gulf: Publication dated February 4, 2021.
Perilous Outlooks: Climate change in the Persian Gulf: Zoom webinar dated February 18, 2021.
The Role of NGOs in Tackling Environmental Issues:  Publication dated April 26, 2012.
Wars Distracting Middle East from Serious Climate Change Threats: Publication dated October 26, 2017.
What Could Environmental Cooperation between Iran and the GCC Look Like? Publication dated December 10, 2020

Search for Books by Subject...

...At the Oman Library at MEI, or in libraries worldwide, using authorized subject terms such as the ones listed below. Searching for subject terms rather than keywords increases the relevance of the results; they may be as broad or as specific as you need. They may also be combined with other terms or used on their own.

Some examples of related Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Climate
*Africa, North -- Climate
Middle East -- Climate
Middle East -- Climate -- History
Persian Gulf States -- Climate
Persian Gulf Region -- Climate
Environment
Africa, North -- Environmental conditions
Africa, North -- Environmental conditions -- Case studies
* Egypt -- Environmental conditions
Middle East -- Environmental aspects
Middle East -- Environmental conditions
Environmental policy -- Middle East
Environmental policy -- Africa, North
Environmental degradation -- Middle East -- Case studies
Environmental degradation -- Middle East

 * Country names may be used in place of regions used in the examples.
The appearance of "--" in the example subject terms should not be typed into a subject or keyword search. Combine terms into different search boxes or the full term, without dashes, into the same search box. For example, Middle East -- Climate becomes simply Middle East Climate.

Combine search terms with Boolean operators in the simple/basic search with the use of quotation marks, or advanced search.

Even in a simple search, researchers may designate the type of material such as "everything," books, articles, and more.

An advanced search in WorldCat may utilize one or more of the allotted fields, without influencing the search results. In an advanced search, users may designate several limitations, such as language.

It is also possible to use subject terms in other languages. For example, a search in Arabic for السياسة البيئية  (Environmental policy): 

The same or similar searches may be performed in The Oman Library's catalog. While the Oman Library does have some books in Arabic on climate and environmental policy, most of those are specifically about Oman, and shelved in the Oman Collection. Other relevant materials are shelved in the General Collection, and tend to be in English and occasionally in French.

Books at the Oman Library

Environmental Consequences of the Persian Gulf War, 1990-1991: Remote-Sensing Datasets of Kuwait and Environs
National Geographic Society, Committee for Research and Exploration
Location: General Collection
Call number: Q1 .N372 1991

Environmental Issues for the Gulf: Oil, Water and Sustainable Development
The Royal Institute for International Affairs, Middle East Programme, in association with Division of Research and Studies Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi
Location: General Collection
Call number: TD 171.5 .P4 E5 1999

Environmental Profile of Turkey
Environmental Problems Foundation of Turkey
Location: General Collection
Call number: TD 187.5 .T8 E5 1981

Environmental Scarcity and Violent Conflict: The Case of Pakistan, by Peter Gizewski and Thomas Homer-Dixon
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Location: General Collection
Call number: HC 440 .Z9E58 1996

Food Security Issues in the Arab Near East: A Report of the United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia, ed. by A.A. El-Sherbini
UNECWA
Location: General Collection
Call number: HD 9018 .A55 E36

Resource Wars: The New Landscape of Global Conflict, by Michael T. Klare
A Metropolitan / Owl Book
Location: General Collection
Call number: UA23 .K6267 2001

Where Environmental Concerns and Security Strategies Meet: Green Conflict in Asia and the Middle East
Rand Corporation
Location: General Collection and Open Access (online)
Call number: TD 195 .W29 W55 1994

National Government Resources

The ministries and international organizations listed below (not including the EU and UN, detailed above) are far from an exhaustive list of what is available. This section provides just some examples of climate- and environmental-focused government institutions. For help with finding government publications, contact the librarian.

Afghanistan: Afghanistan Center at Kabul University (ACKU) collects and provides access to digital and print documents about Afghanistan. The Library holds "the region's most extensive collection of primary resources on Afghanistan." The Digital Collection is searchable by keyword, subject, title, author, date, or collection, and includes books, pamphlets, and newspapers — with hundreds of documents about climate. The library catalog is also searchable and includes some digital resources. Search all Digital Collection and Newspapers through the ACKU DSpace Repository.

Egypt: Ministry of Environment's Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency provides access to laws, decrees, and international agreements on environmental and waste management issues. Reports are found under the Media Center (المركز الاعلامى) tab in English as well as Arabic.

Iran: Ministry of Agriculture information, as well as Soil Conservation and Watershed Management Research Institute, or SCWMRI (پژوهشکده حفاظت خاک و آبخیزداری), may be easily found via the Iran Social Science Data Portal, in English and Persian. The portal has gathered Iran's Statistical Yearbooks on topics including agriculture, oil and gas, mining, environment, and more, organized chronologically.
The SCWMRI Research Groups tab ( حوزه معاونت پژوهشی) provides information about the groups' activities. Users may also find value in the Publications / انتشارات tab, which includes data as well as a catalog of the ministry's publications. The English version has less information but seems to be under construction.

Qatar: Ministry of Municipality and Environment (وزارة البلدية والبيئة), although the website is available in both Arabic and English, there is more information available in Arabic. Environmental topics (موضوعات بيئية) are expanded by clicking the Topics button on the side-menu.

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Food and Water Security

Some subjects and ministries listed in this section reflect the nature of the close relationship between agriculture and food/water security.

MEI Publications

Monday Briefing: Water scarcity is a regional problem and needs a regional solution: Blog post dated March 29, 2021.
"The war of hunger ... scares me more than the war of cannons:" As Inflation Soars, Syria's Economy Spirals Downward: Publication dated March 15, 2021.
Climate Change: The Middle East faces a water crisis: Publication dated November 29, 2017.
Iran and Afghanistan at Loggerheads over Water: Publication dated July 20, 2018.
Iraq Wilting: How creeping drought could cause the next crisis: Publication dated May 3, 2018.
The Looming Water Crisis in Egypt and Beyond: Podcast dated August 22, 2019.
There's Still a Long Way to Go, but Nile Dam Talks are Finally Making Some Progress: Blog post dated January 21, 2020.
Water and Conflict in the Middle East: Publication dated September 18, 2012.
Valuing Water on World Water Day: Blog post dated March 22, 2021.

Search for Books by Subject

Any of the geographic terms listed below are simply to demonstrate patterns; users should substitute regions or countries of interest with those shown, or add the geographic term of interest to any other subject term. Regional terms such as "Africa, North" should not be altered since that is the format of the authorized subject heading.

The scope note for Water supply states: "Here are entered works on water resources both superficial and underground, primarily for domestic, manufacturing, or agricultural purposes. Works on physical and economic access to adequate water are entered under Water security."
The scope note for Food security states: "Here are entered works on physical and economic access to adequate food. Economic works on the availability of food are entered under Food supply."

Some examples of related Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Agricultural reform
Agricultural productivity
Agricultural administration
Agriculture and state
Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- Egypt
Agriculture -- Economic aspects
Green revolution
Green revolution -- Economic aspects
Green revolution -- Pakistan
Irrigatoin -- Egypt
Irrigation -- Iraq
Irrigation projects
Saline waters -- Middle East
Water resources
Water resources development -- Political aspects
Water resources development -- Euphrates River Watershed
Water security -- Africa, North
Water security -- Arab countries
Water security -- Arab countries -- Congresses
Water security -- Case studies
Water security -- Iraq -- Baṣrah
Water-supply -- Middle East -- Congresses
Water-supply -- Middle East -- International cooperation
Water-supply -- Political aspects
Water-supply -- Africa, North
Water-supply -- Africa, North -- Case studies
Water-supply -- Africa, North -- Management
Food security
Food security -- Algeria
Food security -- Africa, North
Food security -- Arab countries
Food supply
Food supply -- Arab countries

Books at the Oman Library

Construction of Nuclear Desalting Plants in the Middle East: Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate (October 19, 20, and November 17, 1967)
Location: General Collection
Call number: TD 478.6 .N4U5

Filling Aswan Reservoir in the Future, by Y.M. Simaika
Ministry of Public Works, Egypt: Physical Department (1940)
Location: General Collection
Call number: TC 558 .E5A87

Gezira Canal Regulation Handbook
Sudan, Irrigation Department (1934)
Location: Reference Collection
Call number: TD 317 .S8A25

Hydropolitics of the Nile Valley, by John Waterbury
Syracuse UP, Contemporary Issues in the Middle East (1979)
Location: General Collection
Call number: TC 518 .N6 W37

Irrigation in Egypt, by J. Barois (translated from French by Major A.M. Miller)
Ministry of Agriculture, France (tr. by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for Congress, 1889)
Location: Reference Collection
Call number: TC 917 .B2

Irrigation and Society in Rural Egypt, by Sohair Mehanna, et al.
Cairo Papers in Social Science, vol. VI no.4 (1984)
Location: General Collection
Call number: TC 917 .M44 1984

Water Planning in Arid Sudan, by Andres Shepherd et al.
No. 10 in the series: Middle East Science Policy Studies
© Institute of Local Government, Univ. of Birmingham
Location: General Collection
Call number: TD 319 .S74 S54 1987

Water Resources in Jordan: Evolving Policies for Development, the Environment, and Conflict Resolution, ed. by Munther J. Haddadin
Part of the series: Issues in Water Resource Policy
© Resources for the Future
Location: General Collection
Call number: TD313.J6W38 2006

National Government Resources

For help with finding government publications, contact the librarian.

Algeria: Ministry of Water Resources (وزارة الموارد المائية) is available mostly in Arabic with some French, and includes irrigation policies and a listing of executive orders and rulings on water regulation, although the links seem to be broken, the list itself may be useful.

Pakistan: Ministry of National Food Security and Research, charged with food and agriculture policy development, economic coordination and planning, importing grain and fertilizer, and economic studies; its Publications/Statistics tab provides relevant documents and reports. The Policies tab includes just one link to the 2018 National Food Security Policy document.

Turkey: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (T.C. Tarım ve Orman Bakanlığı), has a couple of directorates which may be relevant. The General Directorate of Food and Control (Gıda ve Kontrol Genel Müdürlüğü), under the Legislation (Mevzuat) tab, provides a searchable legal database which is also browsable by topic, and a list of statistics.
General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (Tarımsal Araştırmalar ve Politikalar Genel Müdürlüğü) provides information on R&D Projects (Ar-Ge Projeleri), and Publications/Data (Yayınlar/Veriler) are found under the Diğer Faaliyetler tab.

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Urbanization, Sustainability, & Technological Development

MEI Publications

The 2015 Chennai Flood: A case for developing city resilience strategies: Publication dated June 13, 2017.
Climate Change, Sea Level Rise, and Sustainable Urban Adaptation in Arab Coastal Cities: Publication dated February 12, 2019.
Sustainable Development, an Unavoidable Path for Egypt's Future: Publication dated January 28, 2020.
Sustainable Development and the Built Environment in the Middle East: Challenges and opportunities: Publication dated May 3, 2012.

Search for Books by Subject

Subject terms may be as broad or as specific as you need. While simple keyword searches work, targeted, subject searches provide more precise results. Combine conceptual terms with location specifiers to limit results to a specific region or nationality.

Some examples of related Library of Congress Subject Headings:

City planning -- Middle East
City planning -- Environmental Aspects -- Middle East
City planning -- Persian Gulf States
Sustainable urban development -- Middle East -- Congresses
Sustainable urban development -- Africa, North
Sustainable design -- Environmental aspects -- Congresses
Sustainable design -- Middle East
Information technology -- Economic aspects -- Middle East
Technological innovations -- Middle East
Technological innovations -- Africa, North

*Country names provided are examples--users may replace them with any country name. For regions, however, authorized subject headings follow the format displayed.

Books at the Oman Library

For the War Yet to Come: Planning Beirut's Frontiers, by Hiba Bou Akar
Stanford University Press
Location: General Collection
Call number: HT 169 .L42 B68 2018

Industrial Research and Development in Israel: Patterns and Portents, by Arie Lavie and Robert Lawrence Kuhn
Location: General Collection
Call number: T 177 .I7 L38 1988

Perspectives on Technological Development in the Arab World, ed. by Mujid S. Kazimi and John I. Makhoul
Association of Arab-American University Graduates
Location: General Collection
Call number: T 49.5 .P46 1977

Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a Globalizing World, ed. by yasser Elsheshtawy
Routledge
Location: General Collection
Call number: HT 169 .A8 P58 2004

Sustainable Development: An Appraisal from the Gulf Region, ed. by Paul Sillitoe
Studies in Environmental Anthropology and Ethnobiology
Location: General Collection
Call number: HC415.3.Z9 E578 2014

Technology Transfer to the Middle East
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment
Location: General Collection
Call number: T 174.3 .T415 1984

Urban Research Strategies for Egypt, by Richard Lobban
Cairo Papers in Social Science, vol.VI no.2 (1983)
Location: General Collection
Call number: HT 148 .E3 U72 1983

National Government Resources

For help with finding government publications, contact the librarian.

Oman: The Housing & Planning tab of the centralized e-government portal (الاحتياجات والخدمات السكنية) provides information about the Ministry of Housing and Urban Planning. More information about the ministry's activities may be viewed on the Oman Daily Observer.

Saudi Arabia: Ministry of Economy and Planning, makes available a number of development plan PDFs, which include sections on urban planning. Ministry Initiatives and Sustainable Development information may also be found under the tabs with those names.

United Arab Emirates: Ministry of Community Development provides statistics, open data, and a listing of available publications.

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Green Finance & Economic Development

MEI Publications

Lebanon's Economic Crisis: A tragedy in the making: Publication dated March 29, 2021.
China's Green Investment in the BRI Countries: The Case of Turkey: Publication dated January 14, 2020.
Economic Innovation, Inclusion, and Resilience: A key to growth: Panel discussion from 72nd Annual Conference, transcript and video, dated November 8, 2018.
Greening the Egyptian Economy with Agriculture: Publication dated September 12, 2017.
Socioeconomic Reforms in Oman: An uncertain sustainability? Publication dated January 29, 2014.

Search for Books by Subject

Use Library of Congress Subject Headings to maximize precision in search results.

Some examples of related Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Banks and banking -- Environmental aspects
Banks and banking -- Islamic countries
Social responsibility in banking
Economic development -- Persian Gulf Region
Economic development -- Environmental aspects -- Persian Gulf States
Finance -- Arab countries
Finance -- Arabian Penninsula
Finance -- Egypt
Interest -- Islamic countries
Sustainable development -- Afghanistan
Sustainable development -- Africa, North -- International cooperation
Sustainable development -- Middle East
Industrial management -- Environmental aspects
Developing countries -- Economic policy
Middle East -- Economic policy
Investments, Foreign
Africa, North -- Commercial policy
Middle East -- Commercial policy
 

Books at the Oman Library

Banking without Interest, by Muhammad Nejatullah Siddiqi
Islamic Economic Series; Islamic Foundation
Location: General Collection
Call number: HG 1588 .S52 1983

Economic Co-Operation in the Gulf: Issues in the Economies of the Arab Gulf Co-operation Council States, by Badr El Din A. Ibrahim
Routledge Studies in Middle Eastern Economies
Location: General Collection
Call number:

Five Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, 1986-1990
Jordan, Ministry of Planning
Location: General Collection
Call number: HC 497 .J6 J65 1986-90

Foreign Direct Investment in the UAE: Determinants and Recommendations
The Emirates Occasional Papers
Location: General Collection
Call number: HG 5716.A3 Q28 2004

Introduction to Islamic Banking & Finance, by Brian Kettell
Location: General Collection
Call number: HG 3368 .A6K48 2008

Towards an Interest-Free Islamic Economic System, by Waqar Masood Khan
Islamic Economic Series, no.11 (1985)
Location: General Collection
Call number: HG 1623 .I74

The Role of Industrial and Development Financial Institutions in the GCC States: Dimensions and Policies
The Emirates Occasional Papers, no.45 (2002)
Location: General Collection
Call number: HG 1975 .A238 2002

National Government Resources

In general, the logical places to check are ministries of finance, trade, or economy, under their names that may vary from country to country, but are essentially recognizable. Researchers may also find useful data and statistics under the country's Central Banks or main financial institution.
Alternatively, the World Bank — Country Strategy Documents are found in the Open Knowledge Repository (Browse Collections), and IMF - PRSP's and Country Reports, do publish economic and financial development plans in partnership with individual countries. More information on those resources may be found in the Intergovernmental Organizations section.
For help with finding government publications, contact the librarian.

Jordan: Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation lists publications under the Studies and Reports tab.
Ministry of Finance (Arabic) — Find legislation documents under the tab by that name. Established in 1920, the Ministry of Finance's role is to develop and implement Jordan's fiscal policy, manage domestic and external debts, integrate fiscal and monetary policies, and coordinate with institutions such as the Central Bank of Jordan.
The Central Bank makes available: monetary policy — decision documents, frameworks; statistics — monthly and annual bulletins, Statistical Database, and more; legislation; and more financial and economic information.
The Social Security Investment Fund was established in 2001 to manage the investment of Social Security Corporation funds. Users may find useful information under the Legislation and Investment tabs, as well as the Financial Performance tab, which provides financial statements (2015-present available in English as well as Arabic, all previous years to 2003 available in Arabic only) and economic performance information. The Investment tab provides vision and strategic policy statements, investment policy, and other information.

Lebanon: Ministry of Finance provides a number of documents categorized into various columns under the Finance tab, including Reports and Publications, Economic Data and Statistics, Budget Information, International Agreements, and more.
Ministry of Economy & Trade provides information about trade, economic research, and legislation.
Banque du Liban, or the Central Bank, users will find legal information, statistics, and more.

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Natural Resources, Energy, & Industrial Development

This section guides users on how to locate information on natural resources, with a focus on energy — from historical statistics and policies to forward-looking works.

MEI Publications

Asia's Role in the Mideast Solar Surge: Publication dated June 30, 2015
Egypt Should Go Green by Putting a Price on Carbon: Publication dated March 30, 2021.
Emerging Asia and the Middle East: The new energy Silk Road: Publication dated October 3, 2017.
Iran's Renewable Energy Potential: Publication dated January 26, 2016.
Jordan's Energy Future: A path forward: Publication dated August 19, 2015
Lebanon's Wind Power Story: Publication dated September 5, 2018.
Missing the Long Game: Washington's high-risk energy diplomacy in Iraq: Publication dated March 13, 2020.
Saudi Arabia's Nuclear Program and China: Publication dated August 18, 2020.

Search for Books by Subject

Use Library of Congress Subject Headings to maximize precision in search results. The Library of Congress authorized term for Energy resources is Power resources, so to retrieve books, journals, or other documents in a library catalog on this topic by subject term, using Power resources is the desired option.

Some examples of related Library of Congress Subject Headings:

Power resources
Agriculture and energy
Clean energy -- Middle East
Clean energy -- Africa, North
Clean energy -- Persian Gulf States
Electric power
Energy conservation
Energy consumption
Energy development -- Middle East
Energy facilities
Energy harvesting
Energy industries -- Middle East -- Congresses
Fuel
Geothermal resources
Hybrid power -- Middle East
Hybrid power -- Turkey
Nuclear Energy
Industries -- Power supply -- Middle East
Industrialization
Renewable energy sources
Solar energy -- Africa, North
Sustainable development -- Middle East
Sustainable development -- Government policy -- Middle East
Sustainable development -- Persian Gulf Region
Sustainable development -- Government policy -- Africa, North
Water-power
Wind power

*Countries/regions listed above are examples and may be replaced with a different country or region.

Books at the Oman Library

ARAMCO Handbook: Oil and the Middle East
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia
Location: General Collection
HD9576 .A64A72 1968

Iraq Oil: Reports of the Iraq Petroleum Company, Basrah Petroleum Company and Mosul Petroleum Company.
Location: Oversized Collection
Call number: HD 9576 .I72 I73 1960- 1967

Mining Statistics of Iran, 1968.
Iran, Ministry of Economy, Bureau of Statistics
Location: General Collection
Call number: TN 107 .M45

The Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy: The Contribution of the IAEA, by Mohamed ElBaradei
UAE, Emirates Lecture Series
Location: General Collection
Call number: TK 9155 .E43 2003

Petroleum Resources of Libya, Algeria, and Egypt
U.S. Energy Information Administration, Office of Oil and Gas
Location: General Collection
Call number: TN 877 .L5 P48 1984

State Petroleum Enterprises in Developing Countries
UN Centre for Natural Resources, Energy and Transport
Location: General Collection
Call number: HD 9560.1 .U54

Trends in Alternative Energies: Their Implications for Arab Members of OPEC, by Naiem A. Sherbiny
The Industrial Bank of Kuwait K.S.C.
Location: General Collection
Call number: TJ 807.9 .A65 S53 1989

World Energy Demands and the Middle East
26th Annual Conference of the Middle East Institute (1972)
Location:  MEI Publications and Archive
Call number: DS 42 .M6 no.26

National Government Resources

For help with finding government publications, contact the librarian.

Egypt: Ministry of Electricity and Renewable Energy (وزارة الكهرباء والطاقة المتجددة) provides statistics on technical data including power generation and fuel consumption, and electricity holding company annual reports, dating from 2010 through the current report.
The ministry's New and Renewable Energy Authority (NREA) website (available in English or Arabic) lays out NREA's projects and investor services, and annual reports found under the Media tab, in the menu located at the bottom of the page.

Egypt’s State Information Service: Publishes some information on the Renaissance Dam (GERD) and its role in the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF), under the قضايا or Issues heading in the menu at the bottom of the page.

Iran: Ministry of Energy information may be easily found via the Iran Social Science Data Portal, in English and Persian. The portal has gathered Iran's Statistical Yearbooks on topics including agriculture, oil and gas, mining, environment, and more, organized chronologically. The main website also provides information and statistics under the اطلاعات و آمار tab in the Persian version of the site.
The Ministry of Petroleum may have some trouble loading, but researchers will find more information about the ministry and other related organs via the Iran Social Science Data Portal.

Turkey: Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (T.C. Enerji ve Tabii Kaynaklar Bakanlığı) provides Publications only in Turkish, under the Bilgi Merkezi tab, including Strategic Plan, reports, annual and monthly financial statements (mali tablolar), and more. Information and statistics about natural resources such as minerals, is available in both English and Turkish, as is information about oil and gas pipelines and projects.
Ministry of Industry and Technology (T.C. Sanayi ve Teknoloji Bakanlığı) provides data and reports in the İstatikler and the Plan, Program, Raporlar, ve Yayınlar sections. Website only available in Turkish.

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This research guide is maintained by the Oman Library at the Middle East Institute.